Do As I'm Doing

My two boys could not be more different from each other. I am constantly amazed at the way their looks, their temperaments, and their personalities are definitely their very own. And sometimes I feel like nothing that I "figured out" with Calvin applies to Henry.

But the interesting thing is that, different as they are, Henry loves to follow, follow Calvin. He does a remarkable job of replicating Cal's gestures, expressions, and even tone of voice (with words that almost sound like real ones). One of my favorite things is their banter at night before they fall asleep. Calvin will say something and Henry "answers," then they giggle. Cal enjoys deliberately teaching his brother words, and reports his word lessons to me at regular intervals thoughout the day. Calvin also enjoys deliberately teaching Henry "naughty" things, too, but that's a post for another day.

One thing that I have really been enjoying lately, are the less formal teaching moments, when Henry conscientiously watches what Calvin does and tries to do it just the same way. He is so eager to do everything just like Cal. I caught one of his efforts on camera the other day and of course, had to share. (Especially for the grandmas - I know they dig this kind of stuff.)

Cal asked for an Otter pop, with Henry on his heels asking for one, too. I gave them each one and told them they had to eat them outside. Cal decided to sit on the (nonexistent) step right in the threshold of the door, and Henry plopped down right beside him, scooting back and forth until he was positioned just like Cal, then commenced watching how an Otter Pop was "done:"
He watched with each slurp just like this, then squeezed the tube, just like Calvin did, then tipped it way up, just like Calvin did.
I get a kick out of this learning process. Calvin only had me and David to imitate, which was cute (and a little unnerving), but it is adorable to see someone so little have so much adoration and desire to learn by watching.

And as an added bonus for the aforementioned grandmas, more pictures.The boys needed to have hats to "work" outside like Dad:
And they had to put the hats back on after their bath to read stories with Dad. (There's Henry watching Cal again...)